FHSU Athletics
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – No. 24 Fort Hays State clamped down defensively and picked up a big road win Thursday, defeating Missouri Western 55-40 at the MWSU Fieldhouse. The Tigers improve to 16-4 overall and 11-3 in the MIAA. Missouri Western moved to 14-6 overall and 8-6 in the MIAA.
The Tigers struggles on the offensive end in the first half but were able to keep the Griffons close. Down 6-0 to start the game, the Tigers scored their first basket over five and-a-half minutes into the game. The Tigers went on a 9-0 run to take their first lead at 14-10. The Griffons moved back in front momentarily, only to see the Tigers end the first half on a 4-0 burst to hold a narrow 22-21 lead at the half.
FHSU scored the first seven points out of the break to extend the lead to 29-21. A Griffon 3-pointer snapped the 11-0 run going back to the first half, but it marked the only points the Griffons scored in the first eight-plus minutes of the half as they continued to struggle against the lock-down Tiger defense. An 8-0 run by the Tigers pushed the lead out to 13 with 11:36 to play.
Missouri Western had a quick 7-0 burst in less than a minute, capped at the 7:55 mark to get the Tiger lead down to just four. However, a 3-point play by Elijah Nnanabu snapped the comeback hopes of the Griffons and Bjarni Jonsson and Hammeke added buckets to get the lead back up to 11 with six minutes to play. MWSU would get as close as nine the rest of the way.
The Tigers posted a new season low for points by an MIAA opponent, besting the 43 they allowed at Northeastern State in the conference opener. It was also a new low for the Griffons in the all-time series with the Tigers, besting the old low of 42 which the Griffons scored in 2018 and 2022 meetings. FHSU lowered its NCAA Division II-leading scoring defense average to 57.5 for the season. The Tigers held the Griffons to just 30.4 percent shooting from the field.Following a rough 22.6 percent shooting effort in the first half, the Tigers hit 52 percent (13-of-25) of their attempts in the second half to finish at 35.7 percent for the game.
Nnanabu led the Tigers with 15 points, while Hammeke finished with 10. Hammeke led the Tigers in rebounds (8) and assists (3). Kike the first meeting of the season, the Tigers held the Griffons to just one scorer in double figures, that being Taye Fields with 10. Fields added 10 rebounds for a double-double.
The Tigers will now take their shot at trying to pull even with Northwest Missouri State in the conference standings race. Both teams enter their matchup of nationally ranked teams on Saturday with a 16-4 overall record, but the Bearcats are one game better in MIAA at 12-2 compared to 11-3 for FHSU.
The No. 16/11 ranked Bearcats play host to the No. 24/RV Tigers on Saturday in Maryville at 3:30 p.m. It will be a battle between the two best scoring defenses in NCAA Division II. FHSU won the first meeting of the season between the teams in Hays by a score of 57-49.